One result of the Obama era is that big government and big business are often conjoined twins. For the latest proof, the health insurance industry has hired its ex-chief regulator and patron as its new chief lobbyist.

This week Americaís Health Insurance Plans announced that Marilyn Tavenner will be the trade groupís new CEO. Her previous gig was running CMS, the agency in charge of Medicare, Medicaid and the ObamaCare exchanges. As acting and then confirmed CMS administrator since 2011, Ms. Tavenner presided over a bureaucracy with a budget larger than the Pentagonís and drafted the ObamaCare rules that dictate insurance business models.

So other than President Obama, there is no better candidate than Ms. Tavenner to lead the insurance lobby in the era of ObamaCare. The law was a vast transfer of wealth and power to the political class from markets, and the big insurance conglomerates were the brokers of this bargain in return for more subsidized customers. Ms. Tavenner will now steer her members through her own regulatory creations as rules beget more rules.

More to the point, the CMS entitlements are now the major profit centers of an ever less competitive and innovative insurance industry. If the taxpayer is your benefactor, then bringing on a well-connected political operator is the logical choice. In another non-coincidence, Mr. Obama has nominated as Ms. Tavennerís CMS replacement a former UnitedHealth Group executive named Andy Slavitt.

In her five years at CMS, Ms. Tavenner formed strong relationships with Congressfolk of both parties with her backstage candor. Then again, she was involved in the implementation planning for ObamaCare from the start and directed the control room when Healthcare.gov exploded on the launchpad, wasting hundreds of millions of dollars. The next time some politician burbles about ďpublic service,Ē remember that a tour in government is often a form of deferred compensation, with no accountability for results or competence.

We havenít heard any Democrat denounce Ms. Tavennerís career switch, though it wasnít so long ago that to pass ObamaCare they pretended insurers were abusive marauders and continue to blame the industry for the lawís surging costs. Perhaps they understand that whether Ms. Tavenner is a lobbyist or the head of CMS, her job description is the same.